The poet, James Eze sprayed goosebumps into the audience in Abuja on Wednesday when he read from his latest collection of poems titled goosebumps. The effect was close to hypnosis as he read poem after poem that sent a tremor through the audience.
Eze had arrived Abuja from Enugu on the invitation of the Abuja Poetry Society to share some works from his two volumes of poetry, dispossessed, which debuted in December 2019, and goosebumps, which came out last July.
It was a dream evening for poets and lovers of poetry and music in Abuja who had gathered for an eclectic feast at Shalom Park in the high-brow Maitama District of Abuja. The lush green lawn blended in an irresistible verdant beauty with the greenery of the surrounding trees. Eze came clad in a green version of his trademark Akwette fabric, mystified with a touch of three cowries on the neck. His appearance completed the green theme of the evening.
The audience got a sense of what was to come when some of Abuja’s leading spoken word artists took the stage. Ata the Titan and Joshua Udong were quite captivating in their performances. So was the Master of Ceremonies, Oko Owi Ocho Africa, the dramatist.
Introducing his work, Eze explained that he modelled goosebumps after the human heart. “The human heart is divided into four chambers”, he said. “Each chamber in goosebumps, presents a different aspect of the love experience. The four chambers are organically united by the central theme, which is love. The discerning reader therefore, moves from one chamber of experience to another, beginning from Serenade to Desire and through Besotted to Heartache. These are the four phases in the bittersweet journey of love”, he explained.
Eze began his reading immediately after the brief introduction with the poem, Sleepwalker. He swiftly followed it up with a deft delivery of other poems like Unzipped Desire, Waistbeads, Chest Hairs, Rubberband, goosebumps and Nkwobi Bowl before catching his breath for a moment.
But the event took a dramatic turn when he rose from his seat to perform the poem, Hourglass, which he revealed had been set to song. Without warning, the poet broke into a song, lifting his reading voice to a new dramatic pitch. His performance rose to a crescendo when Meena Wise, a vivacious lady, joined him. They danced joyously, swaying to the rhythm, Eze’s voice rising and falling with the beat. The crowd erupted in delirium when the music ended in a flourish.
Then, taking back his seat, Eze picked up a copy of his first collection, dispossessed and read the title poem. It was a fitting balance to an atmosphere soaked in love. Eze tore through the poem, addressing crucial themes like current Chinese efforts to recolonize Africa with debt traps, America’s overwhelming domination of the world, the cruelty of science and the utter hopelessness of a world that is blighted by lovelessness.
Rounding off the event, Ocho anchored a question and answer session that engendered a passionate interactive session between the poet and the audience. It was a lively session that gave Eze the chance to offer further insights into his reclusive world of tireless creativity that has continued to manifest in poetry and songs.
Book signing followed afterwards. The poet, Thomas Peretu had graciously paid for copies of the books and they were freely distributed to the audience. A lively atmosphere erupted after the book signing as the guest poet rose to interact with the members of the Abuja Poetry Society, acknowledging the relentless efforts of the poet, Umar Yogiza Jnr. who had thrown his enormous weight behind the initiative to ensure a successful outing.
Key literary figures like the playwright, poet, theater director and former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Mallam Denja Abdullahi; and the literary critic Paul Liam were in the audience to lend gravitas to the event.
